Morning Coffee: Chargers favourites to draft Nabers after trading Allen

The golfers on the PGA Tour are no different from you and me, and Thursday at the Players Championship highlighted that to perfection. 

After snap-hooking a drive that bounced on land and kicked into the water on the par 4 7th, Rory McIlroy took a drop and was ready to play his third. 

And then all hell broke loose. 

Over the next eight minutes, McIlroy and his two playing partners (Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland) had a spirited debate. 

The three sides couldn’t come to an agreement on if the ball landed in the penalty area and kicked into the water, or bounced in the rough before finding the water. 

Had the ball landed in the penalty area, Rory would’ve had to go 240 yards back to the tee to hit his third shot. Instead, McIlroy was confident it landed in a safe area before getting wet and took his drop in the left rough. 

There was a lot of, “Well, I know my opinion doesn’t matter, but…” and “I’m just saying, I saw this…” 

At the end of the day, the decision is ultimately left in the hands of the player who hit the shot. After all, he’s got the best view of his own ball flight. 

The PGA Tour tweeted the entire nine-minute interaction. If you like drama, I’d recommend watching it. 

It’s a debate that is had on every golf course, every day. I can assure you I’ve been one to take a questionable drop, and I’ve also been the one to call a buddy out for one. 

PGA Tour players, they’re just like us. But while my buddies and I play for $25, these are guys are playing for $25 million. Maybe let’s get a rules official on every hole to make some decisions, errrrrr? 

Domenic Padula will be back on Monday, and this is your Morning Coffee for Friday, March 15. 

Chargers favourites to draft Nabers, Chiefs add a playmaker

Things are changing in Los Angeles. The Chargers traded 31-year-old wideout Keenan Allen to the Chicago Bears for a fourth-round pick Thursday night. 

Allen spent 11 seasons with the Chargers organization and will now be one of the top options in Chicago as they build support for soon-to-be first-overall pick Caleb Williams. 

The Chargers also cut wide receiver Mike Williams this week, meaning their core of pass catchers Week 1 this year will look a whole lot different than it did at the beginning of last season. 

Los Angeles holds the No. 5 pick in the draft. FanDuel has wide receiver Malik Nabers as the favourite to be selected at No. 5 at +150 and no other player shorter than 4-1. 

Nabers was a standout at LSU for and in 2023 had 1,569 yards, the most by any wideout in college football. 

He finished his time at LSU with 3,003 receiving yards, the most by any wide receiver in program history. 

The Chargers are +370 to win the AFC West and are +4000 to win the Super Bowl in Jim Harbaugh’s first year as head coach. 

Meanwhile, the Chargers’ AFC West rival made a move of their Thursday night. 

The Kansas City Chiefs added a weapon on Thursday inking Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to a one-year deal. 

The addition of Brown gives Kansas City another playmaker for quarterback Patrick Mahomes to work with after their passing game struggled at times last season. 

Brown, 26, spent the first three years of his career with the Baltimore Ravens before being traded to Arizona. With the Cardinals he played 26 games, catching 118 passes for 1283 yards and seven touchdowns. 

The Chiefs are +650 to win the Super Bowl as they look to become the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive championships in the Super Bowl era. 

Scheffler starts slow, remains favourite to win Players Championship 

Scottie Scheffler started his 2023 Players Championship title defence with a three-putt bogey on his opening hole. 

On a day where Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele were already in the clubhouse at -7, it seemed like this would be an uphill battle for the world No. 1. 

But, then Scottie did what he’s been doing for 18 months and didn’t hit another poor shot all day. 

Scheffler played his final 17 holes bogey-free, making six birdies and finishing the day at five-under. 

Scheffler went to bed two shots off the lead Thursday night, and still saw his outright number drop to +350 after opening the event at +600. 

It was also a good day for Canadians Nick Taylor and Corey Conners.

Taylor opened with a bogey-free round of 66, one shot off the pace of the leaders, while Conners finished just three shots off the lead on Thursday. 

The second round is underway, and you can watch all of the action on TSN+.